Thursday, December 22, 2011

JOHAN BOTHA -TENOR.

Johan Botha. ﻿

Johan Botha sang in the Metropolitan Opera for the first time in 1997.His debut role, Canio in Leoncavallo's "Il Palliacci"

Deon van der Walt and Brenda Rein told me about him and said that he was going to a big opera star as he had a unique dramatic tenor voice. I was looking forward to hearing him at his debut in the USA.
He had been singing since 1993 in Europe but his would be the first time he sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. It took him five years.....

Salome wanted to interview Johan for the South African Radio .I wrote him a note and she invited Johan and his wife Sonja with their little baby boy Louis to lunch .We went to a Italian Restaurant in the Village and as it was freezing outside, we were the only people there .

Johan Botha and Michele Crider in "Tosca"

The little boy was very quite and never cried once. Sonja told us that she takes him backstage to all Johan's performances and they will listen to his performance over the loudspeakers in his dressing room. She said the only time Louis gets nervous and cries is when they torture Caravadossi in Puccini's opera "Tosca" and he hears Johan's screams .Once this scene is over he calms down and sleeps again.

Sonja Botha.

---------------------------------

Johan's debut was a great success and he has sang at the Metropolitan Opera for the last 15 years.

Johan Botha as "Othello" at the Metropolitan Opera.

Johan Botha and Renee Fleming in "Othello"

Johan Botha in Verdi's "Don Carlos"

His roles so far at the Metropolitan opera has been :- Leoncavallo's "Il Pagliacci" Verdi's "Aida" "Othello" and "Don Carlos". Puccini's "Turandot" and Richard Wagner's "Die Meistersinger"
and "Die Walkure"

Johan Botha as Radames in Verdi's "Aida"at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Johan Botha and Violetta Urmana in "Aida"

James Levine loves Johan's voice and has invited him to sing at the Tanglewood Summer Festival many times. Levine worked with the Boston Symphony and used Johan there as well. Johan regularly appears at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as well as in San Francisco .When he is offered a contract to appear in the USA he will try and stay for about three months at a time. It is not worth his while to come for short stays as he is so busy working in European opera houses.

Johan Botha at Tanglewood with James Levine and the Boston Symphony.

Brenda will travel with him and work with him on the days he does not rehearse or perform. It means that he has to rent two apartments for their stay and the cost can be outrageous.

His sons are at school in Vienna now so Sonja can not travel with him to the USA but will visit during school breaks, bringing the boys, Louis en Marius, along to visit their father. The boys speak Afrikaans but with a German accent- as they go to school in Austria .
The whole family pays a price when he goes away for so long. Modern technology like e mail and Skype is used to bring the boys in line when needed, but also to talk and see to his family regularly. When he sings in Europe he is away from home for much less time.
When Kamersinger Johan Botha sings at the Vienna State Opera he is home every night- enjoying his family and home outside of Vienna.

Johan is a very religious man and when he comes to New York he joins me for services at Marble Collegiate Church. It is quite something standing next to him singing a hymn.....!

Like Ben Heppner and Paul Plishka he has sung with the choir during Sunday Services .
Marble Church supports two congregations in Soweto ,South Africa and I asked Johan if he would give a concert to support this charity. He very kindly agreed and performed during the Christmas season in 2007 to a packed church singing with the Marble Gospel Choir and a South African children's choir that performed at the White House two night before. They got a standing ovation and he loved doing it to help others.

Erwin, Henry, Johan and Brenda.

Johan has invited me on several occasions to meet them at the Metropolitan Opera when he is working with Brenda. This has always been an amazing experience. It gives one an idea of how much effort and work goes into working on a new role.

Brenda Rein.

Brenda coaches Johan not only by teaching him the music but she also explains the role , helps with pronunciation and emotion.She will sing the part of the other singer so that he knows when to come in. She will also suggest to him what instrument he has to listen to for his note. By the time of a performance he must know all this by heart so that the music becomes second nature to him. When he is on stage he must know the music so well that he will be able to concentrate on the performance itself -the conductor, his colleagues ,the costume and to perform the role . It take months- and sometimes years -of studying the opera before he will perform it on stage.

Once while working with him on Eugen d'Albert's "Tiefland" , Brenda felt that he is not showing enough passion when he is singing to his betrothed Marta-who becomes his wife later in the opera. She explained it to him in her own charming way -that was rather blue and very funny. When he sang the aria again one heard the difference!

Johan and Brenda at the Metropolitan Opera .

Johan trusts Brenda completely and her professional criticism is all he cares about .I have seen him come off stage and the first one he looks for is Brenda -to see her reaction. The conductor can rave but Brenda's opinion is all that counts. He knows she will be honest with him.

She sits in the house or backstage at every performance and makes notes on what he should change at the next performance. The next time they rehearse they will first concentrate on the opera he is singing .After that is done they will move on the new opera that they are studying for future performances. Sometimes the conductor likes the music faster or slower and then she will work with him to adapt his pace to that what the Maestro requires.

Brenda does not teach Johan to sing -that is not what a coach does-she only teaches him the role. Now and then she would suggest a place to breath when he is having problems but how he sings is up to him- and his voice teacher Frau Hartman- that lives in Berlin. Johan still work with her whenever he can and specially when he is studying a new role.

Johan is a very interesting guy. Nothing seems to bother him. I have peeked from the stage into the auditorium of the Metropolitan Opera and its 4000 seats- and shuddered.

How these opera singers get the nerves to walk out there and perform is something I will never understand.

He is also a sought after recording artist and has worked most of the famous conductors in the world.